Loom.



"0.155435. Patented Ian. I, lam.

J. A. SCI-IOFIELD.

Loom.

(Application filed Nov. 8, 1898.) I (No Model.) 4 Shaets8heet THE Noam: PETERS 80.. PHOTO-L111), 'wumnmor n. c

Patented Jan. I, 190i.

.1. A. SCHOFIELD.

(Application filed Nov. 8, 189B.\

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(No Model.)

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(Application filed Nov. '8, 1898.)

(No Model.) 4 Sheets- -Sheet 3.

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Patented 1am, l90l.

No. sss,|35.

J. A. SCHDHELD.

mom. I (Application filed Novpfl, 1898.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

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UNrrnn TATES ATENT GFFICE.

JOHN ALEXANDER SCHOFIELD, OF BOLTON, ENGLAND.

LOOM.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 665,135, dated January 1, 1901.- Application filedNovemherii, 1898. Serialllo,695,859. on. model.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, JOHN ALEXANDER Sono- FIELD, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain, anda resident of 26 Hawthorne road, Bolton, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented a new or Improved Loom, of which the following is a specification.

In the production of woven fabrics it is well known that the threads of Warp are to be moved or, separated from each other to form an opening or passage for the shuttle, which is then forced or caused to pass therethrough to leat e its thread of weft between them, to be finally beaten or moved by the reed into the position it has to occupy in the fabric produced. Heretofore these several functions have usually in practice been carried into effect throughout the entire width of the fabric being produced in succession, so that at all times all the threads of warp have been held in position until the shuttle has passed or traveled from one side of them to the other and not until such movement of the shuttle has been completed has the reed commenced to force the thread of weft left by it into position to form the piece or fabric. Thusconsiderable time is lost by each of these separate functions being required to be performed before the succeeding one is commenced. To obviate this and produce a loom or machine that will perform each function in its proper order and that without theloss of time caused by each of said functions being required to be completed throughoutthe entire width of the fabric being produced before the succeeding function is commenced is the object of this invention, and this object I attain as hereinafter described and as illustrated by the accompanying sheets of drawings,wherein Figure 1 is an end elevation of a loom or machine made in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail elevation and part section of parts, drawn to an enlarged scale and arranged to operate as hereinafter described. Fig. 3 is a view of the parts shown by Fig. 2 as seen in the direction of the arrow m. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the loom or machine shown by Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the machine, partly broken out.. Fig. 6 is a drawing in detail hereinafter explained. Figs. 7 and 8 are similar views to Figs. 2 and 3, respectively, but are illustrative of a modification hereinafter referred to. Fig. 9 is a detail side elevation of one of the shuttle= changing slide-plates and of the upper end of its operating-lever. Fig. 10 is a detail plan of one of the sliding pieces actuated by the bowls, one of the latter being shown by solid lines in the position to actuate the sliding piece in one direction and another being represented by dotted lines in position to actuate said piece in the opposite direction.

Similar letters and figures of reference indicate similar parts throughout theseveral views.

A A indicate the framework of the machine. The threads of warp a are wound upon the beam 1), which is mounted in its bearings 17,

so that said threads a may be withdrawn from it to pass over the rail or bearer 0, through the several parts of the machine, wherein the weft-threads are interwoven between them, and thence over the rail or bearer d, to be finally wound upon the piece-beam e in' the woven state, as will be well understood, the devices for retarding, regulating, or effecting the motions of these two beams being any of the varied kinds which may be found most suitable, the same being Well known and usually styled as the let-off and take-up mechanisms. The threads of warp thus arranged are made to pass through healds, heddies, or other harness f, so that by appropriately-formed levers g and cams it they may be raised'or lowered or separated from each other, as desired, to formopenings for the passage. of the shuttle is, as will be understood. However, instead of each of said levers 9 acting upon such a division or number of warpthreads at as taken together would occupy approximately'the full width of the whole warp, as in the old style of weaving, each of said levers gis allocated to a comparatively small portion of said warp or to as many of the threads at thereof as would occupy half an inch or a whole inch in said warps width, or more or less of same, as may be found necessary or desirable to cause them to act or enable them to move, so that they will be sepa rated or raised and loweredimmediately before the shuttle is is required or about to pass between them and to close or change positions immediately after such shuttle has passed or escaped from such interceding position. Thus the several heddle-levers 9 throughout the width of the warp may be arranged (and for the purposes of meeting the requirements of the shuttles operation, as hereinafter described, are arranged) to be acting upon their respective warg-threads irrespective and independently of each other. In the arrangement shown the levers g are coupled to the upper parts of the heddlesf, while the lower parts of said heddlcs are joined together by cords l0, passing over bowls 11, to act as do the same devices in looms as at present extensively in use.

The cams it may be arranged on the periphcry of a cylinder h and in the proper order to produce the effect described and as shown by detail drawing, Fig. 6, or provided the peripheral surface of the drum h was not of sufficient dimensions to allow the necessary quantity of such cams h to be mounted upon it to produce the length of design or pattern of fabric desired, then such cams may be mounted on chains of metal, leather, or other substance, while the periphery of the cylinder it would then be formed to act as a series of sprocket-wheels to move the whole series of chains, as will be well understood, or, again, any other dobby or jacquard and harness mechanism may be employed and arranged to act on 'the divisions of warp, as above described, whenever the extent of design to be produced necessitates such extended actions; but for plain weaving and sim pledesigns I prefer the arrangement herein described.

To carry the shuttles 70 between the divisions of warp-threads, I arrange arms on to press bowls m m, carried by them, against bowls 7o 70, carried by said shuttles 70, so that the threads a, which pass between these arms m and shuttle is, do so by contact with traveling surfaces which will not damage them, while motion is transmitted to these arms at to cause them'to move from one side of the machine to the other to carry the shuttles 7t, as desired.

To transmit motion to the arms m, I preferably have them mounted on sliding pieces a, mounted to slide in the bearings a, so that their projecting pieces a" may be in the path of motion of the bowls 0', mounted upon arms 0", carried by the chains 1) 19. These chains 23 13 take over the pairs of sprocketwheels q g, respectively, while these latter have rotary motion transmitted to them from the driving-pulley 2 through the drum h, gearing-wheels 3 and 4:,shaft 5,and wheels (5, 7, 8, and 9, so that the chain 23 is caused to travel in the opposite direction to the chain 13. The arms 0", carried by the chain 19, are arranged to be in position for laying hold of the projections 02 when those on the chainp are not in such position, and vice versa. Thus the chain 19 carries the shuttles 70 from one side of the machine to the other and the chain 12 causes them to return to the side from which they started.

By arranging the shuttles 70 to be carried by the arms m and byhaving the movements of the several portions of the warp divided I am enabled to form the openingin such warp for the passage of one shuttle is close said opening and reform it for the passage of another shuttle is, with comparatively little space intervening between them. Thus as many sh utiles 76 as can be placed end to end to extend across the whole warp with an appropriate spacc-say of three or four inches or more or less distance apart from each othermay be used andcaused to move simultaneously across said warp from one side to the other, where they are held until all of them have passed across. The number of shuttles used in the loom is not limited by the number of such shuttles which are simultaneously passing through the warp, as any desired number may be employed by arranging their driving-chains p p to be long enough (as by passing them over extra guide-pulleys '10, shown in broken lines, Fig. 4) to carry a corresponding number of arms 0 to act upon a similar number of parts a and arms m, as will be understood. To retain these shuttles in the said positions, their respective sliding pieces 'a are so shaped, as by having their ends inclined, that on arriving at the side of the machine or after having passed clear of the warp (at which place the arms 0 on the chains 19 orp will have left or moved clear of them) they are received by the holders or receivers r 'r,into which each succeeding slide a presses the preceding one and against the force of the weight 4" or r', which by i s lever .9 or 8' tends to force them back into line with the path they have to follow across the warp, by which means they are again brought into position to be acted upon by the returning chain and taken in their proper order to the oppositesideof the machine.

The shuttles 7c are always held by the arms m, both when moving across the shuttle-race and when pressed onto the sliding plates 12 or 12. The parts it are formed of sufficient width to be acted on by the bowls 0 in one direction and those 0 in the opposite direction. Supposing that the chain 2) is traveling in the direction indicated by the arrow 1 Fig. 4, the bowls 0 will carry the sliding pieces so that each one will be passed within the receiver r by the pressure of the one following it, with the exception of the last one, which will have been carried by and released from the last bowl 0 on the chain p and will remain in the bearings 77.. The first bowl 0 of the chain 13, which is traveling in the opposite direction to the chain 10, now comes and engages with the sliding piece a, left in bearings n, to carry same across in the opposite direction, so as to pass within the receiver 4", and each bowl 0 will engage with its respective sliding piece as these are projected into the race by means of the weight 1" and lovers 8 until all the sliding pieces are taken across the bearings n and passed within the receiver r, with the exception, as in the former case, of the last one, which remains in the bearings, so as to be acted upon by the first bowl 0 of the chain p to be again traversed across the bearing.

The clearance of the sliding pieces a from engagement with the bowls 0 0 is brought about through the bowls, after following a straight horizontal course across the loom, traveling in a curved path around the sprocket-wheels q q. Hence they gradually leave the straight path in which the parts at travel. The several parts are so arranged that this occurs exactly, at the time the sliding piecen has been moved opposite the holder or receiver 4" 01'1". The bowls 0 on the chain 19 and those on the chain 19 are so arranged thereon that while the bowls 0 are moving the pieces 11 across the race those 0 are traveling across the upper part of the chain idly, so that when the last bowl 0 has taken the last piece n across the race the first bowl 0 of the other series comes in the opposite direction and takes said piece back again, and so will the remaining bowls 0 each take its respective piece 91 across until the completion of the series, immediately after which the first bowl 0 will come in the opposite direction to return the last-delivered piece 40, across the loom, and so on until the series is completed. The bowls 0 engage one projection n of the pieces n and the bowls 0 engage the projection on the opposite end of said pieces n. The bowls o and 0' travel in the same horizontal plane, but in different planes vertically. (See Fig. 5 in connection with Fig. 4.) The sliding pieces n are each pressed into the holders or receivers r or r by each succeeding piece, this being effected by means of their beveled ends; but the last one of the series is not passed within the receptacle, this being. unnecessary because it has passed entirely outside of the warp-threads and remains in the same straight path without being moved laterally into the receptacle.

The shuttles k, which are carried by the sliding pieces n across the warp, are received by a sliding plate 12 or 12*, which is formed to be moved laterally by being coupled to the levers s s in order that it may be thereby moved as are said levers.

In order to press the several weft-threads left by the series of shuttlesinto their proper positions to form the fabric, I construct the reed tin divisions or sections somewhat approximating the divisions or sections into which the warp is separated for shedding purposes, as above described, and each division of reed t I arrange to be operated independently of its neighboring divisions or sections, so that, as in the case of the movements of the warp-threads so also in this of the divisions or sections of reed if, each part being forced back for the passage of the shuttle immediately before such shuttle reaches it, while on said shuttle having passed then said section of reed is immediately returned into lines, Fig. 2, to that shown in full lines of the.

same figure. By said means the reed-sections are operated successively to beat up the weft immediately after each shuttle has passed each reed-section.

To the lower parts of the sect-ions of reedt are secured the projecting pieces a, which form the shuttle-race, while projections .u above same cause the bowls 0 0 on the arms 0" to press firmly upon the bowls k k on the shuttle, and yet all said bowls revolve in the right direction for facilitating the movements of the arms 0 by relieving them as much as possible from the action of friction.

Instead of arranging the shuttles k to be carried across the warp by the arms n, as above described, I may employ the device well known as being used in the Lyall loom, as disclosed in British Patent No. 1,042 of 1868 and as shown by Figs. 7 and 8, in which case the carriages y carry the shuttles across the warp, and instead of the projections ttbeing secured to the reed-sections t I make such sections of reed to operate through another reedlike guide '12, the supports y for which also form a support for the shuttle-carrier y, or this reed-like guide 12 may be used in connection with the shuttle-carrying device herein first before described instead of the projections a being employed. When I employ this method of carrying shuttles across the loom, (as, in fact,'if I should desire it in connection with the arrangement of parts above described,) I make use of the treadles or shedding-levers g to operate the sections of reed 25, and in this case I preferably arrange these levers g to move the toggle-levers z, pivoted IIO at '2, so that these latter may operate the levers t, the central position of the levers g being thus that at which they make the levers t carry the weft. To effect the movements of the reed-sections at the proper time, I employ two pairs of levers z to each section 25, and these pairs are coupled by rods 2" to two levers g, which are arranged to be at all times operating in opposite directions, as is the case when performing What is known as plain treading. However, should such levers g not be arranged for plain treading, but for more complicated designs, then extra levers arranged to operate these section-reeds are employed.

When the Lyall method of carrying the shuttles is employed, provision is made on the drum which operates the shuttle-carriers y in the well-known manner to receive the number &

of such carriers y that may be thus employed, While a similar arrangement of sliding parts to those above described is employed for receiving the shuttles 70.

Such being the nature and object of my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a loom, the combination with heddle or harness operating devices, of reed mechanism arranged in sections or divisions, means for operating said sectional reeds successively, and shuttle-operating mechanism for carrying the shuttles between the divisions of warpthreads successively in a direct line and in the same direction and then reversing the direction of movement of the shuttles.

2. In a loom, the combination with heddleoperating devices and reed mechanism arranged in sections, of means for operating a series of shuttles simultaneously and in successive order one following another in one direction and then in the reverse direction, and means for operating the reed-sections successively to beat up the weft immediately after each shuttle has passed each reed-section.

3. In aloom, the combination with sectional shedding mechanism, of reed devices forbeating up the weft arranged in divisions or sections, mechanism for carrying a series of shuttles one following another across the warp in one direction and then in the reverse direction, and means for operating the reed-sections successively to beat up the Weft immediately after each shuttle has passed each reed-section.

JOHN ALEXANDER SCIIOFIELD.

Witnesses:

JOHN WHITEHEAD, ROBERT RAILLEY. 

